Ashkenazi Jewish surname of prominent Kohanic rabbinic family, who are generally considered to possess the oldest and best recorded Kohanic pedigree. Rappa may derive from the Hebrew word רופא \ רוֹפֵא rofé "medical doctor, physician" or possibly from the older German word Rappe "raven" (modern High German: Rabe) and Porto being the town in Italy from where the family originated.